History of the Jews in Spain
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The history of the Jews in the current-day Spanish territory stretches back to
After the
An estimated 13,000 to 50,000 Jews live in Spain today.[8][9][10][11][12]
Early history (before 300)
Some associate the country of
The link between Jews and Tarshish is clear. One might speculate that commerce conducted by Jewish emissaries, merchants, craftsmen, or other tradesmen among the
More substantial evidence of Jews in Spain comes from the Roman era. Although the spread of the Jews into Europe is most commonly associated with the diaspora that ensued from the Roman conquest of Judea, emigration from the land of Israel into the greater Roman Mediterranean area predated the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans under Titus. In his Facta et dicta memorabilia, Valerius Maximus makes reference to Jews and Chaldaeans being expelled from Rome in 139 BCE for their "corrupting" influences.[16] According to Josephus, King Herod Agrippa attempted to discourage the Jews of Jerusalem from rebelling against Roman authority by reference to Jews throughout the Roman Empire and elsewhere; Agrippa warned that
"the danger concerns not those Jews that dwell here only, but those of them which dwell in other cities also; for there is no people upon the habitable earth which do not have some portion of you among them, whom your enemies might slay, in case you go to war[.]"[17]
The Spanish rabbi and scholar Abraham ibn Daud wrote in 1161: "A tradition exists with the [Jewish] community of Granada that they are from the inhabitants of Jerusalem, of the descendants of Judah and Benjamin, rather than from the villages, the towns in the outlying districts [of Judaea]."[18] Elsewhere, he writes about his maternal grandfather's family and how they came to Spain: "When Titus prevailed over Jerusalem, his officer who was appointed over Hispania appeased him, requesting that he send to him captives made-up of the nobles of Jerusalem, and so he sent a few of them to him, and there were amongst them those who made curtains and who were knowledgeable in the work of silk, and [one] whose name was Baruch, and they remained in Mérida."[19] Here, Rabbi Abraham ben David refers to the second influx of Jews into Spain, shortly after the destruction of Israel's Second Temple.
The earliest mention of Spain is, allegedly, found in Obadiah 1:20:[20]
“And the exiles of this host of the sons of Israel who are among the Canaanites as far as Ṣarfat (Heb. צרפת), and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad, will possess the cities of the south.”
While the medieval
According to David Kimhi (1160–1235), in his commentary on Obadiah 1:20, Ṣarfat and Sepharad, both, refer to the Jewish captivity (Heb. galut) expelled during the war with Titus and who went as far as the countries Alemania (Germany), Escalona,[25] France and Spain. The names Ṣarfat and Sepharad are explicitly mentioned by him as being France and Spain, respectively. Some scholars think that, in the case of the place-name, Ṣarfat (lit. Ṣarfend) – which, as noted, was applied to the Jewish diaspora in France, the association with France was made only exegetically because of its similarity in spelling with the name פרנצא (France), by a reversal of its letters.
The Spanish Jew Moses de León (ca. 1250 – 1305), mentioned a tradition concerning the first Jewish exiles, saying that the vast majority of the first exiles driven away from the land of Israel during the Babylonian captivity refused to return, for they had seen that the Second Temple would be destroyed like the first.[26] Yet another teaching, passed down later, by Moshe ben Machir in the 16th century, explicitly stated that Jews had lived in Spain since the destruction of the First Temple:[27]
- “Now, I have heard that this praise, emet weyaṣiv [which is now used by us in the prayer rite] was sent by the exiles who were driven away from Jerusalem and who were not with Ezra in Babylon, and that Ezra had sent inquiring after them, but they did not wish to go up [there], replying that since they were destined to go off again into exile a second time, and that the Temple would once again be destroyed, why should we then double our anguish? It is best for us that we remain here in our place and to serve God. Now, I have heard that they are the people of Ṭulayṭulah (Toledo) and those who are near to them. However, that they might not be thought of as wicked men and those who are lacking in fidelity, may God forbid, they wrote down for them this magnanimous praise, etc.”
Similarly, Gedaliah ibn Jechia the Spaniard has written:[28]
- “In [5],252 anno mundi (= 1492 CE), the king Ferdinand and his wife, Isabella, made war with the Ishmaelites who were in Granada and took it, and while they returned they commanded the Jews in all of his kingdoms that in but a short time they were to take leave from the countries [they had heretofore possessed], they being Castile, Navarre, Catalonia, Aragón, Granada and Sicily. Then the [Jewish] inhabitants of Ṭulayṭulah (Toledo) answered that they were not present [in the land of Judea] at the time when their Christ was put to death. Apparently, it was written upon a large stone in the city's street which some very ancient sovereign inscribed and testified that the Jews of Ṭulayṭulah (Toledo) did not depart from there during the building of the Second Temple, and were not involved in putting to death [the man whom they called] Christ. Yet, no apology was of any avail to them, neither unto the rest of the Jews, till at length six hundred-thousand souls had evacuated from there.”
Abrabanel says that the name Ṭulayṭulah was given to the city by its first Jewish inhabitants, and surmises that the name may have meant טלטול (= wandering), on account of their wandering from Jerusalem. He says, furthermore, that the original name of the city was Pirisvalle, so named by its early pagan[clarification needed] inhabitants. He also wrote[30] that he found written in the ancient annals of Spanish history collected by the kings of Spain that the 50,000 Jewish households then residing in the cities throughout Spain were the descendants of men and women who were sent to Spain by the Roman Emperor and who had formerly been subjected to him, and whom Titus had originally exiled from places in or around Jerusalem. The two Jewish exiles joined together and became one.[clarification needed]
One questionable estimate places the number carried off to Spain at 80,000.[32] Subsequent immigrations came into the area along both the northern African and southern European sides of the Mediterranean.[33]
Among the earliest records which may refer specifically to Jews in Spain during the Roman period is
From a slightly later period,
Of material evidence of early Iberian Jewry, representing a particularly early presence is a
Thus, while there are limited material and literary indications for Jewish contact with Spain from a very early period, more definitive and substantial data begins with the third century. Data from this period suggest a well-established community, whose foundations must have been laid sometime earlier. It is likely that these communities originated several generations earlier in the aftermath of the conquest of Judea, and possible that they originated much earlier. There may have been[41] close contact between the Jewish community of Babylon and Spain, as the Talmud[42] documents that Yitzhak the Exilarch, son of the sister of Rav Beivai[43] travelled from "Cordoba to Hispania".
As citizens of the
Visigoth rule – Repression and forced conversions (5th century to 711)
The tides turned even more dramatically following the conversion of the Visigothic royal family under
While the policies of the subsequent Kings
In 633, the Fourth Council of Toledo, while taking a stance in opposition to compulsory baptism, convened to address the problem of crypto-Judaism. It was decided that if professed Christian were determined to be a practising Jew, their children were to be taken away to be raised in monasteries or trusted Christian households.[48] The council further directed that all who had reverted to Judaism during the reign of Swintila had to return to Christianity.[50] The trend toward intolerance continued with the ascent of Chintila (636–639). He directed the Sixth Council of Toledo to order that only Catholics could remain in the kingdom, and taking an unusual step further, he excommunicated "in advance" any of his successors who did not act in accordance with his anti-Jewish edicts. Again, many converted, but others chose exile.[51]
However, the "problem" continued. The
The efforts again proved unsuccessful. The Jewish population remained sufficiently sizable as to prompt
In 694, at the Council of Toledo, Jews were condemned to slavery by the Visigoths because of a plot to revolt against them encouraged by the
Under the Catholic Visigoths persecutions increased. The degree of complicity that the Jews had in the
The Eastern Roman Empire sent its navy on numerous occasions in the late 7th century and the early 8th century to try to instill uprisings in the Jewish and Christian Roman populations in Spain and Gaul against their Visigoth and Frankish rulers that was also aimed at halting the expansion of Muslim Arabs in the Roman world.[54]
The Jews of Spain were utterly embittered and alienated by Catholic rule at the time of the Muslim invasion. The Moors were perceived as a liberating force[55] and welcomed by Jews eager to help them to administer the country. In many conquered towns, the Muslims left the garrison in the hands of the Jews before they proceeded further north, which initiated the Golden Age of Spanish Jews.
Moorish Spain (711 to 1492)
Moorish conquest
With the victory of Tariq ibn Ziyad in 711, the lives of the Sephardim changed dramatically. For the most part, the invasion of the Moors was welcomed by the Jews of Iberia.
Both Muslim and Catholic sources tell that Jews provided valuable aid to the invaders.
In spite of the restrictions placed upon the Jews as
Although not as influential, traditions of the
In adopting
Although initially, the often-bloody disputes among Muslim factions generally kept Jews out of the political sphere, the first approximately two centuries that preceded the Golden Age were marked by increased activity by Jews in a variety of professions, including medicine, commerce, finance and agriculture.[65]
By the ninth century, some members of the Sephardic community felt confident enough to take part in
Caliphate of Córdoba
The first period of exceptional prosperity took place under the reign of
Abd al-Rahman III's support for Arabic scholasticism had made Iberia the centre of Arabic philological research. It was within that context of cultural
In addition to being a poet himself, Hasdai encouraged and supported the work of other Sephardic writers. Subjects covered the spectrum, encompassing religion, nature, music, politics and pleasure. Hasdai brought a number of men of letters to Córdoba, including
For the only time between Biblical times and the origins of the modern state of
Hasdai benefited world Jewry by creating a favourable environment for scholarly pursuits within Iberia but also by using his influence to intervene on behalf of foreign Jews, as is reflected in his letter to the Byzantine Princess Helena. In it, he requested protection for the Jews under Byzantine rule, attested to the fair treatment of the Christians of al-Andalus and indicated that such was contingent on the treatment of Jews abroad.[73][74]
The intellectual achievements of the Sephardim of al-Andalus influenced the lives of non-Jews as well. Most notable of the literary contributions is
In addition to contributions of original work, the Sephardim were active as translators. Greek texts were rendered into Arabic, Arabic into Hebrew, Hebrew and Arabic into Latin and all combinations of vice versa occurred. In translating the great works of Arabic, Hebrew, and Greek into Latin, Iberian Jews were instrumental in bringing the fields of science and philosophy, which formed much of the basis of Renaissance learning, into the rest of Europe.
Taifas, Almoravids and Almohads
In the early 11th century, centralised authority based at Córdoba broke down after the
Among the most prominent Jews to serve as
The Granada massacre of 1066 was an anti-Jewish pogrom that took place in Granada when a Muslim mob stormed the royal palace, where Joseph had sought refuge, and crucified him. The instigators then attacked 1500 Jewish families and killed approximately 4,000 Granada Jews.[83]
The Golden Age ended before the completion of the Christian Reconquista. The Granada massacre was one of the earliest signs of a decline in the status of Jews, which resulted largely from the penetration and influence of increasingly-zealous Islamic sects from North Africa.
After the fall of Toledo to Christians in 1085, the ruler of Seville sought relief from the
Wars in North Africa with Muslim tribes eventually forced the Almoravides to withdraw their forces from Iberia. As the Christians advanced, Iberian Muslims again appealed to their brethren to the south, this time to those who had displaced the Almoravides in north Africa. The
Meanwhile, the
The Jews from the Muslim south were not entirely secure in their northward migrations, however. Old prejudices were compounded by newer ones. Suspicions of complicity with Islam were alive, and Jews who immigrated from Muslim territories spoke Arabic. However, many of the newly-arrived Jews of the north prospered during the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries. The majority of Latin documentation regarding Jews during the period refers to their landed property, fields and vineyards.[91]
In many ways, life had come full circle for the Sephardim of al-Andalus. As conditions became more oppressive in the areas under Muslim rule during the 12th and the 13th centuries, Jews again looked to an outside culture for relief. Christian leaders of reconquered cities granted them extensive autonomy, and Jewish scholarship recovered and developed as communities grew in size and importance (Assis, p. 18). However, the Reconquista Jews never reached the same heights as had those of the Golden Age.
Christian kingdoms (974–1300)
Early rule (974–1085)
Catholic princes,[
Toleration and Jewish immigration (1085–1212)
Ferdinand I of Castile set aside a part of the Jewish taxes for the use of the Church, and even the not very religious-minded Alfonso VI gave to the church of León the taxes paid by the Jews of Castro. Alfonso VI, the conqueror of Toledo (1085), was tolerant and benevolent in his attitude toward the Jews, for which he won the praise of Pope Alexander II. To estrange the wealthy and industrious Jews from the Moors he offered the former various privileges. In the fuero of Najara Sepulveda, issued and confirmed by him in 1076, he not only granted the Jews full equality with Catholics, but he even accorded them the rights enjoyed by the nobility. To show their gratitude to the king for the rights granted them, the Jews willingly placed themselves at his and the country's service. Alfonso's army contained 40,000 Jews, who were distinguished from the other combatants by their black-and-yellow turbans; for the sake of this Jewish contingent the Battle of Sagrajas was not begun until after the Sabbath had passed.[92] The king's favoritism toward the Jews, which became so pronounced that Pope Gregory VII warned him not to permit Jews to rule over Catholics, roused the hatred and envy of the latter. After the Battle of Uclés, at which the Infante Sancho, together with 30,000 men were killed, an anti-Jewish riot broke out in Toledo; many Jews were slain, and their houses and synagogues were burned (1108). Alfonso intended to punish the murderers and incendiaries, but died in June, 1109 before he could carry out his intention. After his death the inhabitants of Carrión de los Condes fell upon the Jews; many were slain, others were imprisoned, and their houses were pillaged.
After the brief reign of King
Turning point (1212–1300)
The Crusaders were hailed with joy in Toledo, but this joy was soon changed to sorrow, as far as the Jews were concerned. The Crusaders began the "holy war" in Toledo (1212) by robbing and killing the Jews, and if the knights had not checked them with armed forces all the Jews in Toledo would have been slain. When, after the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212), Alfonso victoriously entered Toledo, the Jews went to meet him in triumphal procession. Shortly before his death (Oct., 1214) the king issued the fuero de Cuenca, settling the legal position of the Jews in a manner favorable to them.
A turning-point in the history of the Jews of Spain was reached under Ferdinand III, (who permanently united the kingdoms of León and Castile), and under James I, the contemporary ruler of Aragon. The clergy's endeavors against the Jews became more and more pronounced. Spanish Jews of both sexes, like the Jews of France, were compelled to distinguish themselves from Catholics by wearing a yellow badge on their clothing; this order was issued to keep them from associating with Catholics, although the reason given was that it was ordered for their own safety. Some Jews such as Vidal Taroç, were also allowed to own land.
The papal bull issued by Pope Innocent IV in April 1250, to the effect that Jews might not build a new synagogue without special permission, also made it illegal for Jews to proselytize, under pain of death and confiscation of property. They might not associate with the Catholics, live under the same roof with them, eat and drink with them, or use the same bath; neither might a Catholic partake of wine which had been prepared by a Jew. The Jews might not employ Catholic nurses or servants, and Catholics might use only medicinal remedies which had been prepared by competent Catholic apothecaries. Every Jew should wear the badge, though the king reserved to himself the right to exempt anyone from this obligation; any Jew apprehended without the badge was liable to a fine of ten gold maravedís or to the infliction of ten stripes. Jews were also forbidden to appear in public on Good Friday.
The Jewish community in 1300
The Jews in Spain were citizens of the kingdoms in which they resided (
There were about 120 Jewish communities in Catholic Spain around 1300, with somewhere around half a million or more Jews,[citation needed] mostly in Castille. Catalonia, Aragón, and Valencia were more sparsely inhabited by Jews.
Even though the Spanish Jews engaged in many branches of human endeavor—agriculture, viticulture, industry, commerce, and the various handicrafts—it was the money business that procured to some of them their wealth and influence. Kings and prelates, noblemen and farmers, all needed money and could obtain it only from the Jews, to whom they paid from 20 to 25 percent interest. This business, which, in a manner, the Jews were forced to pursue[citation needed] in order to pay the many taxes imposed upon them as well as to raise the compulsory loans demanded of them by the kings,[citation needed] led to their being employed in special positions, as "almonries", bailiffs, tax collectors.
The Jews of Spain formed in themselves a separate political body. They lived almost solely in the Juderias, various enactments being issued from time to time preventing them from living elsewhere. From the time of the Moors they had had their own administration. At the head of the aljamas in Castile stood the "rab de la corte", or "rab mayor" (court, or chief, rabbi), also called "juez mayor" (chief justice), who was the principal mediator between the state and the aljamas. These court rabbis were men who had rendered services to the state, as, for example, David ibn Yah.ya and Abraham Benveniste, or who had been royal physicians, as Meïr Alguadez and Jacob ibn Nuñez, or chief-tax-farmers, as the last incumbent of the court rabbi's office, Abraham Senior. They were appointed by the kings, no regard being paid to the rabbinical qualifications or religious inclination of those chosen
1300–1391
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In the beginning of the fourteenth century the position of Jews became precarious throughout Spain as antisemitism increased. Many Jews emigrated from the crowns of Castile and Aragon. It was not until the reigns of Alfonso IV and Peter IV of Aragon, and of the young and active Alfonso XI of Castile (1325), that an improvement set in. In 1328, 5,000 Jews were killed in Navarre following the preaching of a mendicant friar.[93]
Soon, however a civil war erupted, as Henry II of Castile and his brother, at the head of a mob, invaded on 7 May 1355 that part of the Judería of Toledo called the Alcaná; they plundered the warehouses and murdered about 1200 Jews, without distinction of age or sex.[94] The mob did not, however, succeed in overrunning the Judería of Toledo proper, which was defended by the Jews and by knights loyal to the King. Following the succession of John I of Castile, conditions for Jews seem to have improved somewhat, with John I even making legal exemptions for some Jews, such as Abraham David Taroç.
The more friendly Peter showed himself toward the Jews, and the more he protected them, the more antagonistic became the attitude of his illegitimate half-brother, who, when he invaded Castile in 1360, murdered all the Jews living in Nájera and exposed those of Miranda de Ebro to robbery and death.
Massacres of 1366
Everywhere the Jews remained loyal to King Peter, in whose army they fought bravely; the king showed his good-will toward them on all occasions, and when he called the King of Granada to his assistance he especially requested the latter to protect the Jews. Nevertheless they suffered greatly.
Bertrand Du Guesclin on March 14, 1369. A few weeks before his death he reproached his physician and astrologer Abraham ibn Zarzal for not having told the truth in prophesying good fortune for him.[95]When Henry de Trastámara ascended the throne as Henry II an era of suffering and intolerance began for the Castilian Jews, culminating in their expulsion. Prolonged warfare had devastated the land; the people had become accustomed to lawlessness, and the Jews had been reduced to poverty.[95]
But in spite of his aversion for the Jews, Henry did not dispense with their services. He employed wealthy Jews—Samuel Abravanel and others—as financial councilors and tax-collectors. His contador mayor, or chief tax-collector, was Joseph Pichon of Seville. The clergy, whose power became greater and greater under the reign of the fratricide, stirred the anti-Jewish prejudices of the masses into clamorous assertion at the Cortes of Toro in 1371. It was demanded that the Jews should be kept far from the palaces of the grandees, should not be allowed to hold public office, should live apart from the Catholics, should not wear costly garments nor ride on mules, should wear the badge, and should not be allowed to bear Catholic names. The king granted the two last-named demands, as well as a request made by the Cortes of Burgos in 1379 that Jews should neither carry arms nor sell weapons; but he did not prevent them from holding religious disputations, nor did he deny them the exercise of criminal jurisprudence. The latter prerogative was not taken from them until the reign of John I, Henry's son and successor; he withdrew it because certain Jews, on the king's coronation-day, by withholding the name of the accused, had obtained his permission to inflict the death-penalty on Joseph Pichon, who stood high in the royal favor; the accusation brought against Pichon included "harboring evil designs, informing, and treason.[95]
Anti-Jewish enactments
In the Cortes of Soria of 1380, it was enacted that rabbis, or heads of aljamas, should be forbidden, under penalty of a fine of 6,000 maravedís, to inflict upon Jews the penalties of death, mutilation, expulsion, or excommunication; but in civil proceedings they were still permitted to choose their own judges. In consequence of an accusation that the Jewish prayers contained clauses cursing the Catholics, the king ordered that within two months, on pain of a fine of 3,000 maravedís, they should remove from their prayer-books the objectionable passages. Whoever caused the conversion to Judaism of a Moor or of any one confessing another faith, or performed the rite of circumcision upon him, became a slave and the property of the treasury. The Jews no longer dared show themselves in public without the badge, and in consequence of the ever-growing hatred toward them they were no longer sure of life or limb; they were attacked and robbed and murdered in the public streets, and at length the king found it necessary to impose a fine of 6,000 maravedís on any town in which a Jew was found murdered. Against his desire, John was obliged in 1385 to issue an order prohibiting the employment of Jews as financial agents or tax-farmers to the king, queen, infantes, or grandees. To this was added the resolution adopted by the Council of Palencia ordering the complete separation of Jews and Catholics and the prevention of any association between them.
Massacres and mass conversions of 1391
"The execution of Joseph Pichon and the inflammatory speeches and sermons delivered in Seville by Archdeacon Ferrand Martínez, the pious Queen Leonora's confessor, soon raised the hatred of the populace to the highest pitch. The feeble King John I, in spite of the endeavors of his physician Moses ibn Ẓarẓal to prolong his life, died at Alcalá de Henares on October 9, 1390, and was succeeded by his eleven-year-old son. The council-regent appointed by the king in his testament, consisting of prelates, grandees, and six citizens from Burgos, Toledo, León, Seville, Córdoba, and Murcia, was powerless; every vestige of respect for law and justice had disappeared. Ferrand Martínez, although deprived of his office, continued, in spite of numerous warnings, to incite the public against the Jews, and encourage it to acts of violence. As early as January, 1391, the prominent Jews who were assembled in Madrid received information that riots were threatening in Seville and Córdoba.
A revolt broke out in Seville in 1391. Juan Alfonso de Guzmán, Count of Niebla and governor of the city, and his relative, the "alguazil mayor" Alvar Pérez de Guzmán, had ordered, on Ash Wednesday, March 15, according to the source[96] the arrest and public whipping of two of the mob-leaders. If that date had been Ash Wednesday, Easter would have fallen on 30 April, which is impossible in western Christianity. The fanatical mob, still further exasperated thereby, murdered and robbed several Jews and threatened the Guzmáns with death. In vain did the regency issue prompt orders; Ferrand Martínez continued unhindered his inflammatory appeals to the rabble to kill the Jews or baptize them. On June 6 the mob attacked the Judería of Seville from all sides and killed 4000 Jews; the rest submitted to baptism as the only means of escaping death."[95]
"At this time Seville is said to have contained 7000 Jewish families. Of the three large synagogues existing in the city two were transformed into churches. In all the towns throughout the archbishopric, as in Alcalá de Guadeira, Écija, Cazalla, and in Fregenal de la Sierra, the Jews were robbed and slain. In Córdoba this butchery was repeated in a horrible manner; the entire Judería de Córdoba was burned down; factories and warehouses were destroyed by the flames. Before the authorities could come to the aid of the defenseless people, every one of them—children, young women, old men—had been ruthlessly slain; 2000 corpses lay in heaps in the streets, in the houses, and in the wrecked synagogues."[95]
From Córdova the spirit of murder spread to Jaén. A horrible butchery took place in Toledo on June 20. Among the many martyrs were the descendants of the famous Toledan rabbi
Murviedro. On Aug. 2 the wave of murder visited Palma, in Majorca; 300 Jews were killed, and 800 found refuge in the fort, from which, with the permission of the governor of the island, and under cover of night, they sailed to North Africa; many submitted to baptism. Three days later, on Saturday, August 5, a riot began in Barcelona. On the first day, 100 Jews were killed, while several hundred found refuge in the new fort; on the following day the mob invaded the Juderia and began pillaging. The authorities did all in their power to protect the Jews, but the mob attacked them and freed those of its leaders who had been imprisoned. On Aug. 8 the citadel was stormed, and more than 300 Jews were murdered, among the slain being the only son of Ḥasdai Crescas. The riot raged in Barcelona until Aug. 10, and many Jews (though not 11,000 as claimed by some authorities) were baptized. On the last-named day began the attack upon the Juderia in Girona; several Jews were robbed and killed; many sought safety in flight and a few in baptism.[95]
"The last town visited was
Several responses bearing on the widespread persecution of Iberian Jewry between the years 1390 and 1391 can be found in contemporary Jewish sources, such as in the Responsa of Isaac ben Sheshet (1326–1408),[97] and in the seminal writing of Gedaliah ibn Yahya ben Joseph, Shalshelet haQabbalah (written ca. 1586),[98] as also in Abraham Zacuto's Sefer Yuḥasin,[99] in Solomon ibn Verga's Shevaṭ Yehudah,[100] as well as in a Letter written to the Jews of Avignon by Don Hasdai Crescas in the winter of 1391 concerning the events in Spain in the year 1391. The letter is dated 19 October 1391.[101][102]
According to Don Hasdai Crescas, persecution against Jews began in earnest in Seville in 1391, on the 1st day of the lunar month Tammuz (June).[103] From there the violence spread to Córdoba, and by the 17th day of the same lunar month, it had reached Toledo (then called by Jews after its Arabic name, Ṭulayṭulah).[104] From there, the violence spread to Mallorca and by the 1st day of the lunar month Elul it had also reached the Jews of Barcelona in Catalonia, where the slain were estimated at two-hundred and fifty. So, too, many Jews who resided in the neighboring provinces of Lérida and Gironda and in the kingdom of València had been affected,[105] as were also the Jews of al-Andalus,[106] whereas many died a martyr's death, while others converted in order to save themselves.
1391–1492
The year 1391 forms a turning-point in the history of the Spanish Jews. The persecution was the immediate forerunner of the Inquisition, which, ninety years later, was introduced as a means of watching heresy and converted Jews. The number of those who had embraced Catholicism, in order to escape death, was very large – over half of Spain's Jews according to Joseph Pérez, 200,000 converts with only 100,000 openly practicing Jews remaining by 1410.; Jews of
Paul de Burgos (called also Paul de Santa Maria), and Joshua Lorqui, or Gerónimo de Santa Fe, became the bitterest enemies and persecutors of their former brethren.[95]
After the bloody excesses of 1391 the popular hatred of the Jews continued unabated. The Cortes of Madrid and that of Valladolid (1405) mainly busied themselves with complaints against the Jews, so that Henry III found it necessary to prohibit the latter from practising usury and to limit the commercial intercourse between Jews and Catholics; he also reduced by one-half the claims held by Jewish creditors against Catholics. Indeed, the feeble and suffering king, the son of Leonora, who hated the Jews so deeply that she even refused to accept their money, showed no feelings of friendship toward them. Though on account of the taxes of which he was thereby deprived he regretted that many Jews had left the country and settled in Málaga, Almería, and Granada, where they were well treated by the Moors, and though shortly before his death he inflicted a fine of 24,000 doubloons on the city of Córdoba because of a riot that had taken place there (1406), during which the Jews had been plundered and many of them murdered, he prohibited the Jews from attiring themselves in the same manner as other Spaniards, and he insisted strictly on the wearing of the badge by those who had not been baptized.[95]
Many of the Jews from Valencia, Catalonia and Aragon thronged to North Africa, particularly Algiers.[107]
Anti-Jewish laws
At the Catholic preacher Ferrer's request a law consisting of twenty-four clauses, which had been drawn up by Paul of Burgos, né Solomon haLevi, was issued in January 1412 in the name of the child-king John II of Castile.[citation needed]
The object of this law was to reduce the Jews to poverty and to further humiliate them. They were ordered to live by themselves, in enclosed Juderías, and they were to repair, within eight days after the publication of the order, to the quarters assigned them under penalty of loss of property. They were prohibited from practising medicine, surgery, or chemistry (pharmacy) and from dealing in bread, wine, flour, meat, etc. They might not engage in handicrafts or trades of any kind, nor might they fill public offices, or act as money-brokers or agents. They were not allowed to hire Catholic servants, farmhands, lamplighters, or gravediggers; nor might they eat, drink, or bathe with Catholics, or hold intimate conversation (have sexual relations) with them, or visit them, or give them presents. Catholic women, married or unmarried, were forbidden to enter the Judería either by day or by night. The Jews were allowed no self-jurisdiction whatever, nor might they, without royal permission, levy taxes for communal purposes; they might not assume the title of "Don", carry arms, or trim beard or hair. Jewish women were required to wear plain, long mantles of coarse material reaching to the feet; and it was strictly forbidden for Jews to wear garments made of better material. On pain of loss of property and even of slavery, they were forbidden to leave the country, and any grandee or knight who protected or sheltered a fugitive Jew was punished with a fine of 150,000 maravedís for the first offense. These laws, which were rigidly enforced, any violation of them being punished with a fine of 300–2,000 maravedís and flagellation, were calculated to compel the Jews to embrace Catholicism.[citation needed]
The persecution of the Jews was now pursued systematically. In the hope of mass conversions, Benedict on May 11, 1415, issued a Papal bull consisting of twelve articles, which, in the main, corresponded with the decree ("Pragmática") issued by Catalina, and which had been placed on the statutes of Aragon by Fernando. By this bull Jews and neophytes were forbidden to study the Talmud, to read anti-Catholic writing, in particular the work "Macellum" ("Mar Jesu"), to pronounce the names of Jesus, Maria, or the saints, to manufacture communion-cups or other church vessels or accept such as pledges, or to build new synagogues or ornament old ones. Each community might have only one synagogue. Jews were denied all rights of self-jurisdiction, nor might they proceed against malsines (accusers). They might hold no public offices, nor might they follow any handicrafts, or act as brokers, matrimonial agents, physicians, apothecaries, or druggists. They were forbidden to bake or sell matzot, or to give them away; neither might they dispose of meat which they were prohibited from eating. They might have no intercourse (sex) with Catholics, nor might they disinherit their baptized children. They should wear the badge at all times, and thrice a year all Jews over twelve, of both sexes, were required to listen to a Catholic sermon. (the bull is reprinted, from a manuscript in the archives of the cathedral in Toledo, by Rios ["Hist." ii. 627–653]).[citation needed]
As soon as the
The prohibitions, persecution and eventual Jewish mass emigration from Spain and Portugal probably had adverse effects on the development of the Spanish economy. Jews and Non-Catholic Christians reportedly had substantially better numerical skills than the Catholic majority, which might be due to the Jewish religious doctrine, which focused strongly on education, for example because Torah-Reading was compulsory. Even when Jews were forced to quit their highly skilled urban occupations, their numeracy advantage persisted. However, during the inquisition, spillover-effects of these skills were rare because of forced separation and Jewish emigration, which was detrimental for economic development.[108]
Architecture
A small number of pre-expulsion synagogues survive, including the Synagogue of Santa María la Blanca and the Synagogue of El Tránsito in Toledo, the Córdoba Synagogue, the Híjar Synagogue, the Old main synagogue, Segovia and the Synagogue of Tomar.
-
Córdoba Synagogue
-
Synagogue of El Tránsito, Toledo
-
Synagogue of Santa María la Blanca, Toledo
-
Old main synagogue, Segovia
Edict of Expulsion
Several months after the
The reason given for this action in the preamble of the edict was the relapse of so many conversos owing to the proximity of unconverted Jews, who seduced them from Christianity and kept alive in them the knowledge and practices of Judaism.
It is claimed that Isaac Abarbanel, who had previously ransomed 480 Jews of Málaga from the Catholic Monarchs by a payment of 20,000 doubloons, now offered them 600,000 crowns for the revocation of the edict. It is said also that Ferdinand hesitated, but was prevented from accepting the offer by Tomás de Torquemada, the grand inquisitor, who dashed into the royal presence and, throwing a crucifix down before the king and queen, asked whether, like Judas, they would betray their Lord for money. Torquemada was reputedly of converso ancestry, and the confessor of Isabella, Espina, was previously a Rabin. Whatever the truth of this story, there were no signs of relaxation shown by the court, and the Jews of Spain made preparations for exile. In some cases, as at Vitoria, they took steps to prevent the desecration of the graves of their kindred by presenting the cemetery, called the Judumendi, to the municipality — a precaution not unjustified, as the Jewish cemetery of Seville was later ravaged by the people. The members of the Jewish community of Segovia passed the last three days of their stay in the city in the Jewish cemetery, fasting and wailing over being parted from their dead beloved.
Number of exiles
The number of Jews exiled from Spain is subject to controversy, with highly exaggerated figures provided by early observers and historians offering figures which numbered the hundreds of thousands. By the time of the expulsion, little more than 100,000 practicing Jews remained in Spain, since the majority had already converted to Catholicism. This in addition to the indeterminate number who managed to return has led recent academic investigations such as those of Joseph Pérez and Julio Valdeón to offer figures of somewhere between 50,000 and 80,000 practicing Jews expelled from Spanish territory.[110]
European context of expulsions
Jewish expulsion is a well established trend in European history. From the 13th to the 16th century, at least 15 European countries expelled their Jewish populations. The expulsion of the Jews from Spain was preceded by expulsions from England, France and Germany, among many others, and succeeded by at least five more expulsions.[111][112]
Conversos
Henceforth the history of the Jews in Spain is that of the conversos, whose numbers, as has been shown, had been increased by no less than 50,000 during the period of the expulsion to a possible total of 300,000.[113] For three centuries after the expulsion, Spanish Conversos were subject to suspicion by the Spanish Inquisition, which executed over 3000 people in the 1570–1700 period on charges of heresy (including Judaism). They were also subject to more general discriminatory laws known as "limpieza de sangre" which required Spaniards to prove their "old Christian" background in order to access certain positions of authority. During this period hundreds of conversos escaped to nearby countries such as England, France and the Netherlands, or converted back to Judaism, thus becoming part of the communities of Western Sephardim or Spanish and Portuguese Jews.
Conversos played an important leadership role[
1858 to the present
Small numbers of Jews started to arrive in Spain in the 19th century, and synagogues were opened in Madrid.
By 1900, not taking Ceuta and Melilla into account, about 1,000 Jews lived in Spain.[115]
Jews began to interact with Melilla as early as 1862, with a increasing Jewish community in the city throughout the early 20th century that grew upon the arrival of Moroccan Jews spurred on after the events of Taza under Bou Hmara, the 1909 Melillan Campaign, World War I, and the Rif War.[116]
Spanish historians started to take an interest in the Sephardim and Judaeo-Spanish, their language. There was a Spanish rediscovery of the Jews of Northern Morocco who still conserved this language and practiced old Spanish customs.
The
Prior to the Spanish Civil War and not taking Ceuta and Melilla into account, about 6,000–7,000 Jews lived in Spain, mostly in Barcelona and Madrid.[118] Likewise, by 1936, the Jewish community in Melilla amounted to 6,000, later notably decreasing because of emigration to Venezuela, Israel, mainland Spain and France.[119]
Spanish Civil War & World War II
During the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), synagogues were closed and post-war worship was kept in private homes. Jewish public life resumed in 1947 with the arrival of Jews from Europe and North Africa.
In the first years of World War II, "Laws regulating their admittance were written and mostly ignored."[120] They were mainly from Western Europe, fleeing deportation to concentration camps from occupied France, but also Jews from Eastern Europe, especially Hungary. Trudi Alexy refers to the "absurdity" and "paradox of refugees fleeing the Nazis' Final Solution to seek asylum in a country where no Jews had been allowed to live openly as Jews for over four centuries."[121]
Throughout World War II, Spanish diplomats of the Franco government extended their protection to Eastern European Jews, especially Hungary. Jews claiming Spanish ancestry were provided with Spanish documentation without being required to prove their case and either left for Spain or survived the war with the help of their new legal status in occupied countries.
Once the tide of war began to turn, and Count
Diplomats discussed the possibility of Spain as a route to a containment camp for Jewish refugees near Casablanca but it came to naught due to lack of Free French and British support.[123] Nonetheless, control of the Spanish border with France relaxed somewhat at this time,[124] and thousands of Jews managed to cross into Spain (many by smugglers' routes). Almost all of them survived the war.[125] The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee operated openly in Barcelona.[126]
Shortly afterward, Spain began giving citizenship to
Toward the war's end, Sanz Briz had to flee Budapest, leaving these Jews open to arrest and deportation. An Italian diplomat, Giorgio Perlasca, who was himself living under Spanish protection, used forged documents to persuade the Hungarian authorities that he was the new Spanish Ambassador. As such, he continued Spanish protection of Hungarian Jews until the Red Army arrived.[128]
Although Spain effectively undertook more to help Jews escape deportation to the concentration camps than most neutral countries did,[128][129] there has been debate about Spain's wartime attitude towards refugees. Franco's regime, despite its aversion to Zionism and "Judeo-Marxist"-Freemasonry conspiracy, does not appear to have shared the rabid anti-Semitic ideology promoted by the Nazis. About 25,000 to 35,000 refugees, mainly Jews, were allowed to transit through Spain to Portugal and beyond.
Some historians argue that these facts demonstrate a humane attitude by Franco's regime, while others point out that the regime only permitted Jewish transit through Spain.[citation needed] After the war, Franco's regime was quite hospitable to those who had been responsible for the deportation of the Jews, notably Louis Darquier de Pellepoix, Commissioner for Jewish Affairs (May 1942 – February 1944) in Vichy France, and to many other former Nazis, such as Otto Skorzeny and Léon Degrelle, and other former Fascists.[130]
José María Finat y Escrivá de Romaní, Franco's chief of security, issued an official order dated May 13, 1941 to all provincial governors requesting a list of all Jews, both local and foreign, present in their districts. After the list of six thousand names was compiled, Romani was appointed Spain's ambassador to Germany, enabling him to deliver it personally to Heinrich Himmler. Following the defeat of Germany in 1945, the Spanish government attempted to destroy all evidence of cooperation with the Nazis, but this official order survived. A Jewish newspaper cited a report published 22 June 2010 in the Spanish daily El País.[131]
At around the same time, synagogues were opened and the communities could hold a discreet degree of activity.[132]
On December 29, 1948, the official state bulletin (BOE) published a list of Sefardím family surnames from Greece and Egypt to which a special protection should be granted.
The Alhambra Decree that had expelled the Jews were formally rescinded on December 16, 1968.[133]
Between 1948, the year Israel was founded, and 2010, 1,747 Spanish Jews made aliyah to Israel.
Modern Jewish community
There are currently around 50,000 Spanish Jews,
The modern Jewish community in Spain consists mainly of
Moreover, Reform and liberal communities have arisen in cities like Barcelona or Oviedo during the last decade.[138][139]
Some famous Spaniards of Jewish descent are the businesswomen
There are rare cases of Jewish converts, like the writer Jon Juaristi. Today there is an interest by some Jewish groups working in Spain to encourage the descendants of the Marranos to return to Judaism. This has resulted in a limited number of conversions to the Jewish faith.[140]
Like other religious communities in Spain, the Federation of Jewish Communities in Spain (FCJE) has established agreements with the Spanish government,[141] regulating the status of Jewish clergy, places of worship, teaching, marriages, holidays, tax benefits, and heritage conservation.
In 2014, residents of a village in Spain called Castrillo Matajudios voted to change the name of their town due to risk of confusion resulting from the etymology of the name. "Mata" is a common suffix of placenames in Spain, meaning "forested patch". In this case, it is likely to be a corruption of "mota" meaning "hill". Confusion arises from the word "mata" also meaning "kill", thus rendering a name that could be interpreted as "kill the jews". The name was changed back to its earlier name which would be less subject to surprise by newcomers Castrillo Mota de Judíos (Castrillo Hill of the Jews).[142] Although a mere anecdote in Spain, where it barely made the national press, this story was widely covered in the English speaking press of the United States, United Kingdom and Israel, often misrepresenting the name of the village as "Camp Kill the Jews".[143]
2014–2019 Citizenship law
In 2014 it was announced that the descendants of Sephardic Jews who were expelled from Spain by the Alhambra Decree of 1492 would be offered Spanish citizenship, without being required to move to Spain and/or renounce any other citizenship they may have.[144][145] The law lapsed on October 1, 2019 and by that point the justice ministry claimed to have received 132,226 applications and approved 1,500 applicants.[146] In order to be approved applicants needed to take "tests in Spanish language and culture... prove their Sephardic heritage, establish or prove a special connection with Spain, and then pay a designated notary to certify their documents."[146] Most applications came from nationals of countries with high levels of insecurity and violence in Latin America (mainly Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela).[146]
See also
- Israel–Spain relations
- History of the Jews in Portugal
- History of the Jews under Muslim rule
- Jacob ibn Jau
- Jewish community of Calatayud
- Marrano
- Persecution of Jews
- Samuel Toledano
- Sephardic law and customs
- Jews of Catalonia
- Portuguese Inquisition
- Pallache family
References
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- ^ a b Prados García 2011, p. 2119.
- ^ Hinojosa Montalvo 2000, pp. 25–26.
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- ^ a b Hinojosa Montalvo 2000, p. 26.
- ^ Hinojosa Montalvo 2000, p. 28.
- ISBN 978-84-921390-3-3.
- ^ Europa Press (27 November 2013). "Los 50.000 judíos de España celebran desde hoy la fiesta de Janucá que culminará el día 4 con el encendido de luces". Retrieved 12 February 2022.
- ^ "Unos 50000 judíos residentes en España reciben el nuevo año". 28 September 2011.
- ^ Calvo, Vera Gutiérrez (6 June 2014). "El Gobierno aprueba la ley que otorga la doble nacionalidad a los sefardíes". El País.
- Sergio DellaPergola, World Jewish Population(2007) American Jewish Committee, accessed 12 October 2009
- ^ The Jewish Virtual Library (as well as the president of the Spanish Jewish community) speak of 40,000-50,000 Jews (see "Spain". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 12 October 2009.) of whom half are affiliated with the Federación de Comunidades Judías de España (FCJE).
- M. Seligsohn
- ^ from 'Tyre' in Easton's Bible Dictionary
- ^ William Parkin – 1837 "Festus Avinus says expressly that Cadiz was Tarshish. This agrees perfectly with the statement of Ibn Hankal, who no doubt reports the opinion of the Arabian geographers, that Phoenicia maintained a direct intercourse with Britain in later ..."
- ^ "Valerius Maximus I". www.thelatinlibrary.com.
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- ^ Seder Hakabbalah Laharavad, p. 51, Jerusalem 1971 (printed in the edition which includes the books, Seder Olam Rabbah and Seder Olam Zuta) (Hebrew)
- ^ Seder Olam Rabba/ Seder Olam Zuta/ Seder HaKabbalah le'Ravad, Jerusalem 1971, pp. 43–44 (Hebrew).
- ^ Pesiqata Derav Kahana (ed. Salomon Buber), New York 1949, p. 151b, in Comments, note 26 (Hebrew)
- ^ The Hebrew-Arabic Dictionary known as Kitāb Jāmi' Al-Alfāẓ (Agron), p. xxxviii, pub. by Solomon L. Skoss, 1936 Yale University
- ^ Targum Yonathan ben Uzziel on the Minor Prophets
- ^ Mishnayoth, with a commentary by Pinchas Kahati, Baba Bathra 3:2 s.v., אספמיא, Jerusalem 1998 (Hebrew)
- ^ Elkan Nathan Adler, Jewish Travellers, Routledge:London 1931, pp. 22–36. Cf. Cambridge University Library, Taylor-Schecter Collection (T-S Misc.35.38)
- Isaac Abrabanel, in his Commentary at the end of II Kings, this was a city built near Toledo, in Spain. Abrabanel surmises that the name may have been given to it by the Jewish exiles who arrived in Spain, in remembrance of the city Ashqelon in the Land of Israel. The spelling rendered by Abrabanel is אישקלונה. See: Abrabanel, Commentary on the First Prophets, p. 680, Jerusalem 1955 (Hebrew).
- ^ Moses de León, in Ha-Nefesh Ha-Ḥakhamah (also known as Sefer Ha-Mishḳal), end of Part VI which treats on the Resurrection of the Dead, pub. in Basel 1608 (Hebrew)
- ^ Moses ben Machir, in Seder Ha-Yom, p. 15a, Venice 1605 (Hebrew)
- ^ Gedaliah ibn Jechia in Shalshelet Ha-Kabbalah, p. 271, Venice 1585 (Hebrew)
- ^ Abrabanel's Commentary on the First Prophets (Pirush Al Nevi'im Rishonim), end of II Kings, pp. 680–681, Jerusalem 1955 (Hebrew).
- ^ Abrabanel's Commentary on the First Prophets (Pirush Al Nevi'im Rishonim), end of II Kings, pp. 680–681, Jerusalem 1955 (Hebrew).
- ^ Josephus Flavius, Antiquities, xi.v.2
- ^ Graetz, p.42
- ^ Assis, p.9
- ^ (15.24, 28)
- ^ See, e.g., Yitzhak Baer, A History of the Jews in Christian Spain, Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America (1961), p. 16; Salo Wittmayer Baron, A Social and Religious History of the Jews: Christian Spain, New York: Columbia University press (1952), p. 170; Safrai, S. and Stern, M., eds., The Jewish People in the First Century, Assen, Netherlands: Van Gorcum & Comp. (1974), p. 169; Bowers, W. P. "Jewish Communities in Spain in the Time of Paul the Apostle" Journal of Theological Studies Vol. 26 Part 2 (October 1975) p. 395.
- (18.7.2) — this discrepancy has been resolved by postulating Lugdunum Convenarium, a town in Gaul on the Spanish frontier as the actual site.
- ^ Bava Basra. pp. 38a.
- ^ "History of the Christian Church, Volume II: Ante-Nicene Christianity. A.D. 100–325 – Christian Classics Ethereal Library". www.ccel.org.
- ^ Bowers, p.396)
- ^ Encyclopaedia Judaica, p.221
- ^ But see this article, that some Rishonim explained that the Exilarch was just a local community leader. Steinsaltz, Adin (August 23, 2007). "Masechet Yevamot 113a-119". www.ou.org.
- ^ "Yevamot 115b:8". www.sefaria.org.
- ^ who lived in the fourth century"Jewish Encyclopedia".
- ^ Assis at p. 9
- ^ Laeuchli, pp. 75–76
- ^ Graetz, p. 45
- ^ Katz, p. 10
- ^ a b Assis, p. 10
- ^ Encyclopaedica Judaica, p. 221.
- ^ Katz, p. 13
- ^ a b Encyclopaedia Judaica, p. 222
- ^ Katz, p. 16
- ^ a b Katz, p. 21
- ^ a b "Roman Revolutions and the Rise of Frankish Feudalism and Doctrine". /www.romanity.org. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
- ^ Stillman, p.53
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- ^ Assis, pp. 44–45
- ^ Assis, p. 12
- ^ Sarna, p. 324
- ^ Sarna, pp. 325–326
- ^ Sarna, pp. 327–328
- ^ Dan, p. 115
- ^ Halkin, pp. 324–325
- ^ Jebara, Mohamed (Nov 16, 2015). "Hope amid discord in the Middle East". blogs.timesofisrael.com.
- ^ Raphael, p. 71
- ^ Katz, pp. 40–41
- ^ Stillman, pp. 54–55
- ^ Assis, pp. 13, 47
- ^ Sarna, p. 327
- ^ Sassoon, p. 15
- ^ Stillman, p. 58
- ISBN 978-84-8489-314-1. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2016-03-13.
- ^ Assis, p. 13
- ^ Mann, pp. 21–22
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- ^ Dan, p. 116
- ^ Dan, pp. 7–8
- ^ Dan, p. 117
- ^ Assis, pp. 13–14
- ^ Raphael, p. 75
- ^ a b Assis, p. 14
- ^ Ahmed, M.I. Muslim-Jewish Harmony: A Politically-Contingent Reality. Religions 2022, 13, 535. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13060535
- ^ "The Treatment of Jews in Arab/Islamic Countries". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org.
- ^ Gampel, p. 20
- ^ The Forgotten Refugees Archived 2011-09-13 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Sephardim". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org.
- ^ Assis, p. 16
- ^ Gampel; pp. 20–21
- ^ Stillman, pp. 51, 73
- ^ Assis, p. 17
- ^ Ashtor, pp. 250–251
- Jewish Encyclopedia(1906) by Morris Jastrow, Jr., J. Frederic McCurdy, Richard Gottheil, Kaufmann Kohler, Francis L. Cohen, Herman Rosenthal
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- ^ López de Ayala, Pedro. Cronicas de los reyes de Castilla Don Pedro, Don Enrique II, Don Juan I, Don Enrique III / 1: Que comprende la cronica del rey Don Pedro Madrid (1779). Chap. VII
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "SPAIN - JewishEncyclopedia.com". www.jewishencyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2017-04-15.
- ^ Don Adolfo de Castro (trans. E D G M Kirwan) (1851). The history of the Jews in Spain. London. p. 90.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Rabbi Isaac ben Sheshet Perfet, in his Responsa, treats mainly on the status of Jews (Anūsim) who were compelled to hide their religion in face of persecution in responsa no's. 6, 11, 12 and 14 of Questions and Responsa of Ben Sheshet, Vilnius 1879, pages 13, 15 and 16 in PDF (Hebrew); On Rabbi Isaac ben Sheshet's own forced conversion, see: Isaac ben Sheshet Perfet, Encyclopaedia Judaica (ed. Michael Berenbaum and Fred Skolnik), vol. 10, 2nd ed., Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2007, p. 49.
- ^ Gedaliah ibn Yahya ben Joseph, Shalshelet haQabbalah Jerusalem 1962, pp. רסז – רסח, in PDF pp. 276–278 (Hebrew)
- ^ Abraham Zacuto, Sefer Yuḥasin, Kraków 1580 (q.v. Sefer Yuḥasin, pp. 265–266 in PDF)
- ^ Ibn Verga, Salomón (1992). Sheveṭ Yehudah [The Sceptre of Judah] (in Hebrew). B’nei Issachar Institute: Jerusalem.; Solomon ibn Verga, Shevaṭ Yehudah (The Sceptre of Judah), Lvov 1846, p. 76 in PDF)
- ^ American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise (2022). "Hasdai Ben Judah Crescas". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
- ^ Printed in the book Shevaṭ Yehudah by Solomon ibn Verga (ed. Dr. M. Wiener), Hannover 1855, pp. 128 – 130, or pp. 138 – 140 in PDF, and which history concerns only the year 1391, although the Christian date mentioned here is represented in his account by two dates in the Anno Mundi counting, i.e. 5,152 and 5,151, owing to the change of the Hebrew year in the Fall of that same year. For English translation, see: Fritz Kobler, Letters of the Jews through the Ages, London 1952, pp. 272–75.
- , Lvov 1846, p. 76 in PDF.
- ^ Letter from Hasdai Crescas to the congregations of Avignon, published as an appendix to Wiener's edition of Shevaṭ Yehudah of Solomon ibn Verga, in which he names the Jewish communities affected by the persecution of 1391. See pages 138 – 140 in PDF (Hebrew); Fritz Kobler, Letters of the Jews through the Ages, London 1952, pp. 272–75.
- ^ Solomon ibn Verga, Shevaṭ Yehudah (The Sceptre of Judah), Lvov 1846, pp. 41 (end) – 42 in PDF); Kamen (1998), p. 17. Kamen cites approximate numbers for Valencia (250) and Barcelona (400), but no solid data about Córdoba.
- ^ According to Gedaliah Ibn Yechia, these disturbances were caused by a malicious report spread about the Jews. See: Gedaliah Ibn Yechia, Shalshelet Ha-Kabbalah Jerusalem 1962, p. רסח, in PDF p. 277 (top) (Hebrew); Solomon ibn Verga, Shevat Yehudah, Lvov 1846 (p. 76 in PDF) (Hebrew).
- ^ "ALGERIA - JewishEncyclopedia.com". www.jewishencyclopedia.com.
- S2CID 214199340.
- ^ Hebrew calendar dates start at sunset. 31 July 1492 until sunset was the 7th of Av; from sunset it was the 8th. Presumably the edict took effect at midnight, which was already the 8th, the day before the 9th.
- ISBN 978-84-8427-471-1.
- ^ "Map of Jewish expulsions and resettlement areas in Europe". A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust. Florida Center for Instructional Technology. Archived from the original on Nov 21, 2023.
- ^ "A Brief Chronology of anti-Semitism". 1974. Archived from the original on 26 October 2009.
- ^ Pérez, Joseph (2012). History of a Tragedy. p. 17.
- ISBN 9788460846406– via dialnet.unirioja.es.
- ^ Álvarez Chillida 2011, p. 131.
- .
- ^ Celia Prados García: La expulsión de los judíos y el retorno de los sefardíes como nacionales españoles. Un análisis histórico-jurídico (in Spanish)
- ^ Álvarez Chillida 2011, pp. 132–133.
- ^ Levy 1985, p. 200.
- ^ a b Alexy, p. 77.
- ISBN 0-671-77816-1. p. 74.
- ^ Alexy, p. 164–165.
- ^ Alexy, p. 77–78.
- ^ Alexy, p. 165.
- ^ Alexy, p. 79, passim.
- ^ Alexy, p. 154–155, passim.
- ^ Alexy, p. 165 et. seq.
- ^ a b "Giorgio Perlasca". The International Raoul Wallenberg foundation. Retrieved 2006-07-21.
- ^ "Franco & the Jews". Hitler: Stopped by Franco. Archived from the original on 2011-07-11. Retrieved 2006-07-21.
- ^ Nicholas Fraser, "Toujours Vichy: a reckoning with disgrace", Harper's, October 2006, p. 86–94. The relevant statement about Spain sheltering him is on page 91.
- ^ Ofer Aderet (22 June 2010). "WWII Document Reveals: General Franco Handed Nazis List of Spanish Jews". Haaretz. Tel Aviv. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
- ^ Spain at the Virtual Jewish History Tour
- ^ 1492 Ban on Jews Is Voided by Spain– The New York Times, 17 Dec 1968
- ^ Jewish Spain : Living, Eating and Praying as a Jew in Spain at Spain Expat.com
- ^ "European Jewish Congress – Spain". Archived from the original on 2006-03-01. Retrieved 2009-10-04.
- ^ HebreoCollege Murcia empezamos en 2003 como escuela privada en polaris world para 214 familias jud Archived 2008-07-09 at the Wayback Machine at ayunt.murcia
- ^ "Barcelona, Spain Jewish History Tour". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org.
- ^ "Comunidad Judía del Principado de Asturias". www.sefarad-asturias.org.
- ^ "Europe – World Union for Progressive Judaism". wupj.org.
- ^ Anusim project at bechollashon.org
- ^ Ley 25/1992, de 10 de noviembre, por la que se aprueba el acuerdo de cooperación del Estado con la Federación de Comunidades Israelistas de España.
- ^ "Jewish group asks French minister to rename Death to Jews hamlet". The Guardian. Agence France-Presse. 12 August 2014.
- ^ "It's Official: Spanish Town 'Camp Kill the Jews' to Change Its Name". Haaretz. January 10, 2018 [May 25, 2014].
- ^ Stavans, Ilan (1 April 2014). "Repatriating Spain's Jews". The New York Times.
- ^ "522 años después, los sefardíes podrán tener nacionalidad española (522 years later, the Sephardi Jews will be able to have Spanish nationality)" (in Spanish). El Mundo. 9 February 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
- ^ a b c Jones, Sam (2 October 2019). "132,000 descendants of expelled Jews apply for Spanish citizenship". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
Further reading
- Alexy, Trudi. The Mezuzah in the Madonna's Foot: Oral Histories Exploring Five Hundred Years in the Paradoxical Relationship of Spain and the Jews, New York: ISBN 978-0-06-060340-3, paperback reprint.
- ISBN 978-84-937041-8-6.
- Ashtor, Eliyahu. The Jews of Moslem Spain, Vol. 2, Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1979.
- Assis, Yom Tov. The Jews of Spain: From Settlement to Expulsion, Jerusalem: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1988.
- Bartlett, John R. Jews in the Hellenistic World: Josephus, Aristeas, The Sibylline Oracles, Eupolemus, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985.
- Bowers, W. P. "Jewish Communities in Spain in the Time of Paul the Apostle" Journal of Theological Studies Vol. 26 Part 2, October 1975, pp. 395–402.
- Dan, Joseph. "The Epic of a Millennium: Judeo-Spanish Culture's Confrontation" in Judaism Vol. 41, No. 2, Spring 1992.
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- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Spain". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
External links
- Expulsion from Spain and The Anusim[permanent dead link], The Jewish History Resource Center, Project of the Dinur Center for Research in Jewish History, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
- Jewish Spain today
- (in Spanish) La Inquisición Española: origen, desarrollo, organización, administración, métodos y proceso inquisitorial
- The Jews in Spain Archived 2013-10-25 at the Wayback Machine (from Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971)
- Vikipedya, the Judaeo-Spanish Wikipedia
- The Tragic History of the Jews of Spain Rabbi Menachem Levine, Aish.com
- In Plain Language: The song of the Marrano